The Challenge
by Cirdan the Civic
Summary: A story about Sudo Kyouichi's challenge to the Red Suns from the perspective of Takahashi Ryousuke.


Disclaimer: Initial D and its characters belong to Shigeno Shuichi.  
  
  
  
The Challenge  
  
Ryousuke woke up at 3:59 A.M. sharp and turned off his alarm clock before it had a chance to ring. He'd been on a 24/7 rotation the night before, and now he'd be expected to put in a full 8-hour day, which would, without a doubt, become a 10-hour day once he'd stayed long enough to finish the charts and signed out his patients. Of course, with the shortage of emergency pediatricians for the night shift, the medical students were being mercilessly extorted to cover the lack of manpower. Ryousuke checked his schedule on his Palm. He couldn't be assigned to Takasaki; that would be too easy, too short of a commute. He was assigned to Fujioka. It wasn't far. Yesterday had been Ota.  
  
Ryousuke was out the door by 4:23. He sped through the empty roads and even exceeded the low speed limits. His parents had been pressuring him to buy a second car for work, but he'd repeatedly refused. They thought it unseemly for a medical professional to be driving an old FC instead of a German import or some other luxury car, but Ryousuke knew that he'd be a danger on the road if he didn't drive his FC. He was more conscious when he drove his FC because he cared more about not getting it in an accident. When he'd borrowed the Benz while his FC was detuned for inspection, he'd found himself nodding off dangerously. The Benz had drifted into the next lane before Ryousuke had snapped out of his short doze. The road had been empty, but otherwise, he might well have gotten into an accident. He didn't tell his parents, of course, or they would've forced him to stop his nighttime hobbies, but it meant that they didn't understand why he insisted on driving his FC to the hospitals.  
  
The hospital was eerily quiet. He downloaded his patient information onto his Palm and quickly scrolled through. Seven cases, none were unusual. For a moment, his mind wandered back to Ota, and he wondered about the timid young boy who had obviously been beaten by his father but claimed to have been in a gang fight. He was no longer Ryousuke's concern though. Ryousuke cleared his mind and went to his first patient, a 10-year- old girl who had swallowed gasoline in a failed suicide attempt. She'd been in the hospital since the night before, and the pediatrician had already tended to her. Ryousuke's job now was to gently probe the girl for more information and to provide psychological aid. Then he'd visit the straightforward fever patient.  
  
The time passed quickly enough, mostly because Ryousuke's mind was still in a daze from being on call the night before. He was finished earlier than expected, and all his patients were signed out by 2:45 P.M. Just as he was about to leave, a nurse ran by in a flurry, screaming for help. Ryousuke was officially off-duty. He was tired and had been planning to sleep in his car for an hour or so before driving off, but he went to the scene to see if he was needed or if he could learn from whatever the situation might be.  
  
It was his first patient. She'd gotten a hold of her penknife and had tried to slit her wrist. The arterial blood spurted out with force, proof that she'd cut herself properly for a suicide. Another nurse was already trying to stop the bleeding. Whoever had given the girl her purse should've been more careful. The situation was more or less under control. Amidst the clamor, Ryousuke caught sight of a note written on My Melody stationary that had fallen to the floor. He slipped it from the feet of the emergency pediatrician and nurses. "Don't let my stepfather touch my little sister." Ryousuke sighed and covered his eyes briefly. Then he stopped a nurse who was present but not being particularly useful.  
  
"Have this included in her file," Ryousuke said. The nurse glanced at the note and nodded. Ryousuke stayed until he was certain that his first patient was stabilized. It was 3:50 before he tore himself from the scene. He couldn't let himself become attached to the situation. Tomorrow, he would be in Numata.  
  
He checked his voicemail while he drove home. There was one from Fumihiro. Emperor had defeated the Night Kids. The white Evo IV had been spotted in Takasaki. Sudo Kyouichi was looking for Ryousuke, undoubtedly with plans to challenge the Red Suns. One thing at a time. Ryousuke changed into a purple-and-white-striped collared shirt once he was home. Then he called Fumihiro.  
  
"This is Ryousuke," he said, though he knew Fumihiro's phone would have caller ID. "Where is the Evo IV now?"  
  
Fumihiro told him where Emperor's Number One and Number Two Drivers had last been spotted. "What do you plan to do, Ryousuke?" Fumihiro asked. "You've retired."  
  
"I have, but this is not a normal challenge. This is a rematch." Ryousuke called up a map of Takasaki on his laptop. He keyed in where the Evo had last been seen and projected its course and where it would be in the next 10 minutes. "The Red Suns will defend the reputation of Gunma."  
  
Fumihiro did not object, and Ryousuke went out to meet Kyouichi. There was no point in making this more difficult than it needed to be. Ryousuke simply parked his FC where he knew the Evo would find him and waited. Sure enough, Kyouichi and Iwaki came. Of course, there was boasting before the challenge.  
  
Then, Kyouichi pointed and made his challenge. "Takahashi Ryousuke, you destroyed my perfect-win record and so I'll ruin yours!"  
  
At that moment, Ryousuke remembered the girl who had slit her wrist after swallowing gasoline had failed. He remembered the boy who had been beaten by his own father. Another boy had been stung by a bee and gone into anaphylactic shock. And a pre-teen, anorexic girl had fainted because she'd been starving herself to be as thin as Amuro Namie. And here, before him, was the leader of the Emperor team, seeking revenge for the loss of a race over a year ago. Ryousuke laughed. Sudo Kyouichi was one of the most myopic people in the world, but he served as an amusing distraction from the more serious issues in life.  
  
"My perfect-win streak has already been broken. I lost to Akina's Hachiroku." Ryousuke said this calmly and watched with inward pleasure as Kyouichi's face became crestfallen at the thought of not being the one to defeat the White Comet of Akagi. He'd retired from streetracing because of the increasing pressures of his clinical rotations, but the monkeys of Iroha reminded Ryousuke once more of why he'd first begun racing on mountain passes. When his FC was running smoothly and cornering according to the ideal line, his mind was fully focused on the drive, and he had respite from medical school. "I admire your decision to race on your opponent's home course," Ryousuke said. He set a date and time for the Red Suns vs. Emperor races. There would be two races, one uphill and one downhill, but everyone would be watching the downhill race between the FC and the Evo III. After setting up the race, Ryousuke did not stay to make small chat with the Emperor team. He needed to catch up on sleep.  
  
Ryousuke called Fumihiro as he drove home and gave him the date and time of the Red Suns vs. Emperor races. Also, Ryousuke asked Fumihiro to talk to the other teams on Akagi. He wanted to give Emperor a chance to practice before the scheduled race. Most importantly, the time lapse gave Ryousuke a chance to sleep. Any strategic planning would have to wait until after the sleep deprivation problem was resolved. Fumihiro could be trusted to take care of the rest.  
  
As Ryousuke prepared for a short nap before his meeting with the Red Suns on Mount Akagi, he thought again of Project D. He'd almost been relieved to lose to the Hachiroku. The White Comet could hardly compete on so little sleep. But perhaps there was another way. Perhaps he did not have to drive in order to fulfill his dream of creating a legend and proving his theory for fastest driving on mountain passes. Fujiwara Takumi seemed a likely candidate for the downhill driver, but Ryousuke would have to test him further before recruiting him. If the FC lost against the Evo III, Ryousuke's theory would be proven wrong, and he would lose credibility as the leader of a legendary streetracing team. But if he won, he decided then that he would push forward with Project D.  
  
And yet, as Ryousuke drifted off to sleep, he did not think of cars white and black. He did not think of mountain passes and maps of courses. Instead, he devised a theory for how to best treat his next suicide patient. 


End file.
